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About Us

Partnerships for Innovation in Engineering Education & Research for Space (PIE2RS) at UH is designed to provide undergraduate engineering students who are interested in space research with paid research opportunities. Students will be paired with faculty at the University of Houston, the University of Houston Clear Lake, or researchers at NASA Johnson Space researchers to conduct cutting-edge research.

PIE2RS will engage undergraduate students in research contributing to NASA’s strategic goal of extending human presence on the Moon and Mars for sustainable, long-term space exploration development and utilization. The focal point of the research will be Digital Engineering, encompassing the integration of computational data and models, the modeling of systems-of-systems, digital twins of complex systems, and virtual reality-based complex model simulation and performance assessment.

Specific topical areas of undergraduate research include

  1. The computational modeling of large-scale systems consisting of multiple interconnected subsystems
  2. Methodologies for quantifying the contribution of each subsystem to the interconnected system response and for reducing the dynamic order of interconnected systems using model-based and databased approaches
  3. The design of interconnected systems for optimal structural integrity and reliability
  4. The quantification of uncertainty and error bounds of interconnected system computational models to assess their regions of validity,
  5. Systematic methodologies for feedback control of complex interconnected systems, and
  6. The virtual reality and extended reality in the modeling and assessment of large-scale complex systems.

Research experience will include:

  • 10-week paid research project ($5,000)
  • Bi-weekly Professional development workshops
  • Cohort based Networking Events
  • Mentoring elementary and middle school students

Eligibility

  • Be an undergraduate at a community college or 4-year institution
  • Must have a graduation date of Dec. 2025 or later
  • Have an average GPA of 2.8 or higher
  • Must be a U.S. citizen/national or permanent resident (for placement at NASA JSC) - not required for campus placements